Fr. Manuel João, comboni missionary
Sunday Reflection
from the womb of my whale, ALS
Our cross is the pulpit of the Word
“To be close to me is to be close to the Fire”
Year C – Ordinary Time – 20th Sunday
Luke 12:49-53: “I came to bring fire to the earth”
The Lord certainly does not leave us in peace, not even during holiday time. After his teachings on prayer, riches, and vigilance in recent Sundays, today his words become even stronger and more disconcerting, using enigmatic language that has often been misunderstood. We are on the road to Jerusalem, and Jesus places before his disciples the radical demands of following him. Today, however, Jesus speaks about himself, his mission, and his destiny. He does so through three images: fire, baptism, and division. We shall dwell above all on the first: fire.
1. “I came to bring FIRE to the earth,
and how I wish it were already kindled!”
The fascination of fire upon the human imagination and its symbolic value are universal. It is therefore no surprise that the word “fire” (’esh in Hebrew; pyr in Greek, in the LXX version) appears more than 400 times in the Old Testament and more than 70 times in the New Testament.
In the Bible, fire is one of the richest and most polyvalent symbols. It is often linked to the manifestation of the Shekinah (the visible presence of God), as in the burning bush, the pillar of fire of the Exodus, on Mount Sinai, and in prophetic visions. It can be an instrument of divine judgement or represent spiritual purification. At the same time, fire symbolises passion and intense love. In the New Testament, finally, it becomes an image of the Holy Spirit.
1. Of which fire does Jesus speak? We might think of the fire of the Spirit, but here it seems to refer above all to the fire of his Word, inflamed by the passion of divine Love. The Gospels agree in presenting Jesus as a passionate man. He is the new Elijah, “a prophet like fire; his word burned like a torch” (Sirach 48:1), consumed with divine zeal (cf. 1 Kings 19:10). The zeal of Jesus was to do the will of the Father (Jn 4:34; Lk 2:49). During the cleansing of the Temple the apostles would recall the word of the Psalmist: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” (Jn 2:17).
This passionate fire shows itself both in his anger against scribes, Pharisees, and Temple authorities, who had colonised religion, and in his compassion for the crowds and the sick, in his mercy towards sinners, and in his love for his disciples whom he “loved to the end”. It is with this fire that Christ wishes to set the world ablaze!
2. Saint Paul reminds us that “the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom 5:5). What have we done with it? Does it still burn within our hearts? Does it flame out and spread around us? Or is it rather a flickering little flame? Do we live a lukewarm Christian life? May the Lord not have to say of us what he said of the Church in Laodicea: “you are neither cold nor hot” (Rev 3:15-16).
3. How can the heart be warmed? By drawing near to the Fire! In the “Gospel of Thomas”, an apocryphal writing of the 1st–2nd century that gathers many sayings attributed to Jesus, we find these two affirmations: “I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes” (n. 10); “Whoever is near me is near the fire, and whoever is far from me is far from the kingdom” (n. 82). The Lord who did not come to “quench a smouldering wick” (Mt 12:20) is the guardian of the Fire in our hearts, but we must approach him with trust. The fear of being “burned” by the divine Fire is very real. In this sense, the great theologian and spiritual writer Von Balthasar comments with sombre irony:
“If you have fire in your heart, keep it safe within a fireproof hearth and cover it, for if even a single spark leaps out and you do not notice, you will become prey to the flames along with the house. God is a devouring fire. Be careful how you deal with him, lest he begin to demand, and you no longer know where he is driving you. God is dangerous. Beware, he hides himself, he begins with a little love, with a little flame, and before you realise it, he already holds you entirely and you are his prisoner.” (The Heart of the World)
4. Another thing that can happen is that ashes cover the fire. It is necessary, from time to time, to remove the ashes and rekindle the fire. The Greek verb (anazōpureō) translated as “rekindle” (to light again, to stir up the fire under the ashes) appears only once in the New Testament, precisely in 2 Tim 1:6, where Saint Paul addresses his disciple Timothy saying: “I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you.” To which “fan” can we turn to rekindle the Fire in our hearts? To the breath of the Holy Spirit! Each morning let us ask him to remove the ashes of the previous day so that the new day may be animated by the Fire of Love.
5. The Christian is called to be a living flame. Indeed, a living bush, like the one Moses saw on Sinai. One of the sayings of the Desert Fathers declares:
“A disciple asked Father Joseph of Panephysis: ‘What more must I do?’, after describing to him his life of prayer, fasting, meditation, and inner purity. Then the elder stood up, stretched his arms towards heaven, and his fingers became like ten torches. ‘If you wish,’ he said, ‘become all flame.’”
2. “I have a BAPTISM with which I must be baptised,
and what stress I am under until it is completed!”
This saying of Jesus is more comprehensible. He refers to his death on the cross. Saint John insists that Jesus “is the one who came with water and blood” (1 Jn 5:6-8). Jesus immersed himself in the waters of the Jordan in solidarity with us, but the “baptism” of blood he undertakes for us. Jesus says he is “pressed” (the literal sense of the Greek verb, rather than “distressed”) for this to take place.
There is a link between the image of baptism and that of fire. Jesus speaks of the necessity of this baptism so that the Fire of God’s Love may blaze forth in the world. The Jewish authorities wanted to extinguish the fire of his word and his message by plunging Jesus into the waters of death, but with his resurrection the Fire of the Spirit will explode across the whole earth.
3. “Do you think that I have come to bring peace on earth?
No, I tell you, but DIVISION.”
This statement of Jesus is quite understandable. His word disturbs and provokes unrest, resistance, and opposition. It awakens us from false forms of peace. Wherever Christ enters, he brings upheaval and division, both in consciences and in society, and even within the Church.
If the message of Jesus is fire, the Christian is an incendiary. He unsettles the self-righteous and the defenders of the status quo. He denounces compromises. He arouses the opposition of those who care nothing for the common good and of those who exploit nature and the poor.
The Fire of the Gospel does not leave us in peace. That is why, without even realising it, we look for excuses to keep it at a safe distance. And, paradoxically, the most sophisticated of these excuses may even be prayer itself, says again Von Balthasar in this ironic provocation:
“If you cannot rid yourself of his gaze, then pray until you no longer see him. It can be done. Pray until you get rid of him. Pray the near God until he becomes a distant God. Bury him under prayers until, with his voice, he falls silent.” (The Heart of the World)
Fr Manuel João Pereira Correia, mccj
